Not So Solid
by crazyguy408
Summary: Niska never was the type of person to forgive and forget. In fact, he never was one to forgive in general. So, one could only imagine the kind of anger he felt when he learned that Malcolm Reynolds had escaped from his murderous hands for a second time. He promised himself he would not let that happen again, especially not with three bounty hunters out for Reynold's head.
1. Tell That to the Horseshoe

_WHOOSH!_

_TING!_

"Yes!"

Jayne's loud, burly voice echoed through the cargo hold as the horseshoe found its target and wound its way around it and sliding to the ground with a loud _tink_, earning a polite round of applause from the small audience around him, prompting him to take a few bows, completely oblivious to the sarcastic undertone.

"It seems that the lord has finally shown mercy on your horseshoe skills," Shepard Book quipped with one two more horseshoes of his own resting on his wrist, patting Jayne's shoulder with his free hand.

Jayne simply waved off the Shepard's comment. "Nope, the Lord's got nothin' to do with this. All skill is what it is."

Book nodded and threw his horseshoe. It landed perfectly on the pole and spiraled back down to the floor, earning a genuine congratulatory clap from Kaylee and Inara, who are standing by the pole opposite of Book and Jayne, each with a Horseshoe of their own as well.

Book nodded appreciatively. "Thank you, ladies."

Jayne shook his head at Book but couldn't hide the smile growing on his features. "Yeah, yeah, that's all so gorram sweet and all, but I'm the master," Jayne said cockily, motioning to himself with his last horseshoe and taking another chew of his tobacco.

Rearing his hand back, he took two practice throws before letting the piece of metal go, miscalculating his shot drastically and sending it flying in the far right corner, clattering noisily to the floor, earning a loud chain of laughter from Kaylee, Inara and Book, as well as Simon and Wash, standing on the catwalk above and leaning on the railings and watching with rapt attention.

"Might wanna tell that to the horseshoe," Wash quipped, earning more laughter from the women down below.

Jayne spat out a large, tobacco filled loogie and wiped his chin in response.

"I highly doubt that Mal would appreciate that," Simon said apprehensively.

"What the Cap'n don't know won't hertcha ya know."

"By the way," Kaylee spoke up, "when did he say that he and Zoe would be back with that stolen li'l item for Badger? It's been a few hours now."

"Badger?" Simon asked, taken aback slightly. "That . . . homicidal maniac who kept us all hostage while Mal was getting ripped apart by that rich guy? _That_ Badger?"

"That would be the one," Inara kindly cleared up, not even looking up at the two men spectating on the catwalks and rather focusing her attention on aiming the horseshoe at the small pole on the opposite side of the room. She tossed it, coming up just a few inches short, paying no mind to the immature cackling of Jayne.

"Why . . . Why is he even still affiliated with that guy?" Simon pressed on.

"I believe it is because, and this is the Captain's words," Book started as he aimed his horseshoe directly across, "If you got a job, I can do it. Don't much care what it is," Book finished, doing his best to imitate Mal's incorrect speech patterns but clearly struggling.

"Shepard's right," Wash elaborated. "We're smugglers. I don't think that we have the right to be picky about who our bosses are . . . no matter how homicidal he or she may or may not be."

Simon slackened his jaw and nodded in slight understanding, only for his face to twist back into confusion once again. But before he could question the pilot's logic any further, a loud popping and crackling sound came from Wash's waist followed by the slightly panicked tone of a feminine voice.

Wash picked up his walkie-talkie and put it to his mouth. "I'm here, my golden girl," Wash said unnecessarily calmly. He winced once the sound of his wife's loud voice, exemplified further by the crackling of the communicator.

"_Wash! Get ready! Startup Serenity_!"

Nodding in understanding, he clipped his walkie-talkie back to his waist and leaned over the railing.

"Alright kids, clear up," he ordered. "They're coming in hot! Kaylee, stand by the door, wait for my signal," he instructed further as he climbed the stairs up and out of the cargo hold, followed by a confused Simon.

The rest of the crew followed their instructions, picking up the horseshoe poles and placing them off to the sides. As Book, Inara and Kaylee passed by Jayne, they tossed him their horseshoes, leaving him perplexed and confused in the middle of the cargo hold.

"What in the Xi niu Gou shi am I supposed to do with these?"

"If I were you, I'd put them away," Kaylee remarked as she stood by the lever that opened the door.

Jayne rolled his eyes in response and threw them to the side and into an opened crate without even trying.

With that, Inara, Book and Jayne made their way up the ladder and onto the catwalk, out of the way of the oncoming hovercraft in time to hear the whirring noise of Wash starting Serenity's engines, followed immediately after by Wash's voice echoing out of the intercom.

"Alright, Kaylee. Open 'er up."

The young woman nodded and pulled the lever. On cue, red lights began to rotate and the alarm wailed as the door's hydraulics hissed in response as the door lowered itself outside, revealing the dry, warm and desolate desert outside, letting the sunshine spill in.

Almost immediately after the door touched the ground, distant revving noises were easily heard.

"What is that?" Inara questioned.

"If I were to guess," Book started, his silver hair now more prominent than ever in the sunlight, "I'd say that that is our dear Captain's uninvited guests."

Kaylee, her curiosity getting the better of her, peeked around the side to see a large plume of dust billowing off in the distance, and in the center of the dust cloud was a small black dot that got progressively bigger. She also took notice to the seven other black dots speeding behind the first dot.

Kaylee smiled. "That's our Cap'n."

Moments later, the small speck grew into the full-sized hovercraft that served as the new Mule, since the first one was destroyed while getting Mal and Wash back from Niska. Captain Malcolm Reynolds, dressed in his usual maroon shirt with tan suspenders and khakis stood with his back to his crew and his pistol drawn, pointed at the unwanted group of followers behind them.

Zoe sat in the driver's seat, clad in her leather jacket and dark red shirt along with her combat boots. She guided the Mule up the ramp and rocketed into the cargo hold. Almost immediately, she put on the brakes and halted the hovercraft.

Kaylee instinctively pushed up the lever again and the door began to rise off the ground, forcing the outraged crowd to slam on their brakes and skid to a halt just yards away from Serenity, which was now just taking off.

Above the roaring engines, Kaylee heard the faint shouts of dismay and anger from the crowd outside.

"Damn you, Reynolds!"

"Get out here yah coward!"

"That don't belong to you!"

_SHTTHHHHMM_

The door closed and all was silent for a moment save for the Mule, which was still hovering off of the floor by a few feet before Zoe switched it off, gently lowering it to the cold floor.

No one said anything for a good few moments, no one even moved. The only sensation any of them felt was their stomachs rising as the ship climbed into the atmo.

Finally, Mal turned and saw the three pairs of eyes looking down at him from atop the catwalks.

He shrugged. "Hey."

"Mal." Inara nodded.

"Captain." Book nodded as well.

"Yo." Jayne acknowledged.

"Howdy, Cap, Zoe," Kaylee greeted brightly. "How'd the thievin' go?"

"That, you may want to take up with your Captain," Zoe quipped, earning an offended guffaw from Mal.

"What? We finished the job, didn't we?"

Before they could argue any further, Wash's voice came over the intercom once again.

"_Hey, you guys still alive? I didn't take off without you, did I_?"

Zoe hopped off the Mule and took out her communicator from on her waist, raising it to her mouth. "We're here, Wash. Nicely done, babe."

"_Good to hear. Alright passengers, this is your . . . extremely handsome pilot speaking. We're cruising at an altitude of fifty thousand feet and still climbing and we should reach the atmo in one minute. So sit back, enjoy the ride and we should reach Persephone by daybreak_."

Zoe laughed in reply and put away her communicator, redirecting her attention to Mal, who was now climbing off of the Mule and landing right next to her, a chunky bag in his grip.

"What is it?" Kaylee asked excitedly, clasping her hands and making her way to Mal's side.

The captain smiled in response and opened the bag to reveal a foot and a half tall bronze statue of a certain religious figure that Mal didn't recognize.

"Ooh," Kaylee cooed. "Shiny. I didn't know Badger was the religious type. Maybe he and Shepard could get along," she half joked.

"Thanks, but I believe I'm good."

Mal closed the bag back up and motioned to Jayne, "Come on now, hurry up. Hoist the Mule back up."

Jayne rolled his eyes and muttered something undesirable under his breath as he made his way over to the controls on the other side of the catwalk. Pulling on the lever, the square, metal frame lowered itself from the ceiling slowly, prompting Kaylee to hop on the Mule and prepare to hook it up to the hoist.

Mal, turning away from his crew, made his way to the stairs and climbed up, nodding to Book and Inara in acknowledgment before stopping in his tracks, looking at Jayne, who was still at the hoist's control panel.

"And Jayne." Jayne looked in his direction. "Clean up that ruttin' spit, would ya? I'm trying to keep this ship presentable and I can't do that with Jayne DNA laying all about."

Jayne said nothing. Rather, he looked at his captain with perplexity as he climbed up the stairs and disappeared on the next level.

"Fay-Fay duh pee-yen."

As Mal walked up the stairs, he saw the golden light of the dining room washing in from above him. But the moment he placed both feet on the floor, he found a pair of glaring, angry eyes staring at him.

"I just got here, Doc. How's it I'm in trouble already?"

"You're still working for Badger?" The doctor asked irately.

"Well, 'working for' may be putting it too extreme. We're affiliated with him, I guess you could put it."

"I don't care how you put it! He's a maniac!"

Mal's nostrils flared at the sound of his rising tone. "You've been with us long enough to know that I don't appreciate that kind of tone on my boat, especially when it's directed to me. Now either you check yourself, or you and your sister can get off at the next stop."

He turned away from Simon and walked through the doorway and into the long hallway that lead to the cockpit, followed closely by Simon.

"He held us hostage, Mal! How can you still be even 'affiliated' with him?"

Mal turned on his heel and faced the doctor again. "Because he gave us a job. And given our position, I don't think we really have the option to be picky."

"That's what I was telling him earlier!" Wash's voice projected through the hallway.

Mal and Simon ignored him. "What if he were to come back?" Simon pressed, this time with more calm in his demeanor. "He could find out about River and I and there would be nothing to stop him from selling us out to the Alliance!"

"Now hold up just a moment," Mal cut him off. "You and I both know that if anything were to happen to you and your adorable baby sister, anything at all, I would be very, very heartbroken," he joked, earning an unappreciative glare from Simon. "You two are a part of my crew. There'd be no easy way I could replace either of you. I think that it would have to take someone who truly hates my entire gorram existence to take my medic away from me."

With that, he gave Simon a good-natured pat on the shoulder and turned away from him, walking toward the cockpit. "And there ain't no one I know who could hate me that much."

_Meanwhile_,

Hate filled his body, red flooded his field of vision, and rage almost replaced his very sanity.

The old man sat at his desk, looking out the window and into the vast emptiness of the 'verse. Looking out the window only fueled his anger even further. It reminded him that _he_ was still out there laughing and boating about how he had gotten away from him twice now.

Not only once, but _twice_!

He was so close to having his head last time . . .

The mere thought of their last encounter almost made his blood pressure rise even more.

He wasn't going to make the same mistakes a second time.

Finally, the elderly man snapped back into reality and cleared his throat. He was so caught up in his vengeful thoughts that he had almost completely forgotten about the three people waiting for him behind him.

Swiveling a full one-eighty in his chair, he faced the small group with a wicked smile.

"Ah, szank you for coming," Niska greeted the three people.

The one on the far left was a shorter man, standing only about five and a half feet tall, but he was clad in mechanical armor with a wide array of blasters and other weapons on his belt. He had a metallic helmet on his head that covered up both sides of his head as well as the backside, leaving the front fully exposed.

The one in the middle was a woman around the same height as the man in armor. She had a white cloth covering her mouth, revealing only the bridge of her nose as well as her eyes which were almost hatefully halfway shut into slits and was loosely dressed in very formal fighting wear. She also had blonde hair that was pulled back into a bun. She carried no weapons with her.

The man on the right was the tallest. He stood at a staggering six-foot-seven and was darker skinned. The only thing he had on the upper half of his body were two black straps that crisscrossed over his chest and attached to his tan pants.

The three assassins stood, waiting for Niska's request.

"I've been told that when it comes to finding people, you szree are ze best in ze business. And so far . . . I'm not disappointed."

The three of them said nothing.

Niska stood up from his chair, reached into his pocket and pulled out a crumpled up mug shot of a man with brown hair and a face with well-sculpted features.

Niska smiled wickedly.

"Zis is Malcolm Reynolds."


	2. Roots of the Community

The metal was clanging, the wheel was shaking, his seat was bustling with energy, and the view outside the front window was obscured by the flames licking at the front side of Serenity as they reentered the atmo. And it was all music to his ears.

"That's it baby, you're doing just fine," Wash absently cooed as he rubbed the control panel in front of him, doing his best not to apply to much pressure and accidentally push a button.

Another moment later, the flames cleared away and all that was left was the bright sun shining over Persephone.

Wash smiled. "That's my good girl."

"Gee, if only you talked to me like that."

Wash's eyes shot wide open at the sound of his wife's voice behind him. Swiveling in his chair, he looked behind him to see Zoe leaning against the doorway with a smug smile on her face, arms crossed over her chest.

"Oh don't you worry," Wash jokingly soothed. "I've got other lines that are sure to serenade you right into my arms."

Zoe bit her lip playfully and made her way to her husband. He wrapped his arms around her waist and guided her so she sat down on his lap. But before they could embrace, the sound of Mal clearing his throat snapped them out of their reverie.

The married couple turned to see Mal standing in the entryway, looking utterly bored with the events in front of him.

"I beg your pardon, Cap'n," Wash started, "but you're kinda ruining the moment here."

"Don't see how that's any concern of mine. Serenity's my ship. So I s'pose that means I can go where I want and when I want without any consent of yours. Also," Mal continued, "when you're reentering atmo, I find it especially helpful to not have any distractions. Don't you agree, Wash?"

Wash and Zoe exchanged annoyed glances before Zoe stood back up on her feet. Wash glanced at Mal one last time before swiveling back to face his controls.

"I missed you too, Cappy."

"Save the quips for after we get paid, Wash. We're runnin' on a clock here."

With a raised eyebrow, Wash gripped the wheel again and turned to his wife, who was now sitting in the copilot's seat, mouthing the words _what's his problem_ to her.

Zoe shrugged. "He's just upset that his 'foolproof' plan backfired."

"It didn't backfire!" Mal objected. "It just, happened to take a different direction than what I was expecting . . . and also having serious negative repercussions on us."

"Hm," Wash hummed silently to himself, stroking his chin in mock concentration. "I haven't had as much experience in the field as you two, but from my perspective, that's the very definition of backfire."

"I don't need your commentary," Mal snapped. "All I need is for you to get us to Badger so we can get paid."

_Later_,

"What the hell do you mean we ain't getting paid?!" Jayne cried out in outrage.

Mal raised his hand to calm Jayne, but only slightly succeeded. Once he was sure the mountainous man was finished with his tantrum, Mal turned back to the well-dressed man in front of him.

"Sorry, he gets like that sometimes," Mal explained. "I believe what he meant was, um," he cleared his throat, "what the hell do you mean we ain't getting paid?!"

Badger, dressed in his usual black suit and topped with his bowler hat wiped his hands together and stood up from his chair and looked directly into Mal's eyes.

"Well, for starters, you barely got the job done."

"Fei hua. We got in, we got out, just like you asked."

"What I _asked_, Mister Reynolds," Badger started, walking over to his window, the shutters only letting in a small handful of sunlight, "was that you steal the statue, untouched, and undetected."

"We did!" Mal reasoned. "We got you your toy, didn't we?"

"Puh-lease," Badger scoffed. "The condition you got it to me in, you might as well not have gotten me anything at all."

Slightly offended, Mal reached over the desk and grabbed the statue, holding it out at arms-length in Badger's direction. "What do you mean '_condition'_? Look at it! Looks fresh outa the box! Er, wrapping, or wherever it came from!"

Tsking in both amusement and annoyance, Badger walked up and snatched the statue out of Mal's hand, brought it over to his desk where he dug through his drawer and took out a magnifying glass.

Holding them both out for Mal to see, he held the magnifying glass over the torso of the statue, revealing a long, albeit hardly noticeable scratch.

"Damage like this is exactly what drops the price severely in the black market, ya know. I was positive I could sell this at a very handsome price, and give you a twenty-five percent cut. Even a small handful like that would have you set for quite a while. But," he shrugged dismissively, "with damage like this," he said again, gesturing to the small scratch, "I don't see how it's fair to still let you in on this deal."

"And I don't see how it's fair to go back on your own word like that. We got your job done and got what you wanted. Tell 'em, Zoe," Mal said, gesturing to his second-in-command, who was standing calmly in the corner with her arms crossed.

"Well," she started, "you did kinda jeopardize the mission by directly insulting the previous owner of that hideous thing."

"He started it!" Mal reasoned. But before he could go on resuming his rant, Badger cut him off.

"Oh Mal, Mal, Mal," he said teasingly, "you've already forgotten that little talk we had only a few months back, haven't you?"

Mal's eyes narrowed to slits.

"Allow me to reiterate," Badger said, setting the small statue down, "I'm above you. I will _always_ be above you. How was it I put it? Ah yes, roots in the community. I give you a job, and I expect it to get done exactly the way I want it. And if that's too taxing for you and your crew . . ." he trailed off before allowing another large smile smother his face, ". . . then maybe you should seek employment elsewhere."

Then, as if to hammer in the last nail of the coffin, Badger reached into his pocket and pulled out a small coin.

"Here. Take this for your trouble, will you?"

With that, Badger flung the coin out of his hand with a metallic _ping_ and sent it sailing into the open air, only for Mal to snatch it quickly and bury it in his sealed fist.

Badger tipped his hat in the captain's direction. "Ta ta. Try not to let the door kick you in the arse on the way out."

With another flare of the nostrils, Mal turned on his heel and headed for the door.

Before he exited, Mal angrily tossed the small coin behind his shoulder, only for an anxious Jayne to reach up and snatch it out of the air. He lifted it up close to his eye to examine it, bit it, and put it in his pocket.

_At the same time_,

"My, my, Doctor" Book said with genuine concern as he passed the doctor standing outside his bunk. "Your head looks about as red as those tomatoes that we picked up 'bout a week ago."

Drawing in a deep, calming breath, Simon turned to address the Shepard. "I just don't understand it is all. Why does Mal keep doing business with that guy? Can't he just find some other employer?"

"I am not sure if you've noticed, Doctor, but Mal isn't exactly the most . . . popular man in the 'verse."

Simon snorted in amusement. "There's an understatement."

"So, by the looks of it, it, Mal chooses to stay with Badger because he's one of the only ones who can actually tolerate the man."

"He's afraid."

The sudden, soft, feminine voice made itself present to the two men, causing the two of them to jump in sudden alarm. Looking at the doorway, they found River, who Simon believed was passed out cold on his bed just a moment ago. She was leaning against the doorframe with her usual thousand yard stare in no particular direction. She was dressed in a purple flower dress and her hair was a tangled mess.

"River?" Simon started, but found no other words to follow it up with.

"He's afraid that nobody else likes him. That's why he goes back to him. He wants to be needed. He's like a child, going to wherever and whoever will accept him."

Her eyes wide like a deer, she looked above her at the ceiling, and smiled.

"I'm going to go eat four apples."

Her smile spread as wide as her face, she skipped past the two speechless men and climbed up the ladder.

Both pairs of eyes watched as she disappeared on the upper level. Another silently awkward moment passed between the two men until Shepard shrugged. "She may have a point. It's only natural to stay where you feel needed."

"But why Badger?" Simon asked again. "Why hasn't Mal just went somewhere else for employment?"

Book let out a throaty chuckle. "Well, you're a very gifted doctor who could grow to be very old and very rich. So, why haven't you?"

With nothing left to say, he allowed the doctor to let that sink in as he walked past him, his proud smile still emanating on his face. Before he exited the hallway, he turned back to face Simon.

"And besides, if Mal just went somewhere else for employment and gave up this life of crime, then that just wouldn't be our captain, would it?"

With another chuckle, he stepped through the door and walked away, leaving Simon to his thoughts.

_Meanwhile_,

_TZSZSZ_

Niska poked the Taser again, coming into contact on his victim who let out a satisfyingly painful and weakened scream.

The old man closed his eyes, allowing the sound of pain and suffering to resonate in his ears.

He leaned back and looked into the scared man's eyes. "You should know better zhan to try to run away from your problems, Meester Drews."

The man in question was strapped to a dolly with four leather straps. He wore no shirt, which revealed many scars and marks. He leaned his head back in pain, closing his eyes tightly in hopes that the old man will be gone when they open again.

And, he wasn't sure if he was really hearing it or if it was his mind playing tricks on him due to his immense pain, but he swore he could hear vicious snarls and gnashing coming from beneath his feet.

Niska pressed the Taser to his skin again, eliciting another pained scream from the young man until the voice of his assistant came from behind.

"Sir."

On any other day, if he were interrupted during a 'business meeting', he would've cut the man's throat where he stood and have his body heaved out of the waste chute and allow the 'verse to have its way with it.

But today, he was feeling especially generous.

He looked over his shoulder.

"Vhat. Ees. It?"

"Are you sure those three freaks can bring in Reynolds?"

The very mention of Mal's name almost pressured him into slitting the man's throat anyway, but then he was reminded he had insurance on him and couldn't help keep another wicked grin from spreading on his face.

Playing with the Taser in his hands, he turned around, addressing the man.

"I believe zhat anyszing is possible. Especially with ze right motivation." He spread his arms out on both sides to express his point. "And vith ten million units on the line, I believe all of our problems vill . . ." he scampered excitedly over to the wall and pressed a small red button. It was immediately followed with a mechanical whining and whirring noise. He turned and watched as the floor beneath Mr. Drews begin to lower.

"Disappear."

Mr. Drews, now aware of the floor descending beneath him, began stirring and wiggling in place, the leather restraints preventing him from making any drastic movements.

"Hey, wha-what're you, st-stop! No!"

Looking up at Niska with pleading eyes, the young man was met with nothing more than a playful smile from him accompanied by a teasing finger wave.

Over his screams, he could hear the snarling get louder and louder.

Then everything went dark.

_Later_,

"Untrustworthy . . . down low . . . cowardly . . . deceiving . . . monkey turd . . ."

The incoherent rumblings went on and on, and none of the crew cared.

Almost none of them.

Mal was currently pacing back and forth impatiently on the cargo bay floor, muttering only just audible enough for the small audience above him to hear.

Simon and Book were leaning on the railing, watching with unwavering attention and curiosity.

"Unbelievable. The man's been doing this for almost ten straight minutes," Simon observed, keeping a palm over his mouth.

"Let's keep watching," Book suggested. "He just might break fifteen minutes."

Not far from them, Kaylee and Jayne were also leaning on the railing, watching with rapt attention.

Kaylee gasped. "Whoa! I thought I saw that vein on that big head o' his move," she observed.

"Keep watchin'," Jayne instructed. "Maybe his whole gorram head will blow."

The only one who looked bored with it all was Inara, who was too leaning against the railing, shaking her head in disapproval.

"For God sakes, Mal! This isn't solving anything."

"It's solving my deep hatred for the common folk at the moment, Inara," Mal said simply, not bothering to look up at her or the others.

A moment later, Zoe emerged from the hallway and entered the catwalks, her hands lazily on her hips.

"He still pacing?"

Inara nodded. "Hasn't stopped."

"Well excuse me for trying to vent my frustration in a seemingly calm-like manner, ladies!" Mal snapped, finally looking up at the many pairs of eyes looking down at him. "Now I don't wanna hear another peep outa anyone in this room until we land, ya hear?"

Almost as if on cue, the overhead intercoms whined to life and Wash's static voice was heard.

"Um, Mal, there's something out here you might wanna see."

His voice disappeared.

Mal, still upset but not unwilling to go up to the cockpit, huffed and made his way to the ladder.

He looked up to Zoe. "For your husband's sake, it better be somethin' I actually _want_ to see."

He made his way through the catwalks and into the hallway that lead to the cockpit, Zoe and Jayne close on his tail. He rounded the last turn and saw Wash sitting stock still in his chair, back turned to him and looking mesmerized out the front window.

"Alright, Wash," Mal snapped, stepping into the room. "What is so ruttin' important that you had to-" He froze and looked out the window.

"Shun-sheng duh goa-wan."


	3. Not Leaving Empty Handed

They strapped on their boots, pulled up the pants, slipped on their gloves and slid on their helmets with an air sealing hiss.

Mal reached up to his helmet and switched on the flashlights installed on the outside. The light flashed on and beamed in Zoe's face. She winced and covered her eyes with her hands.

"Sir, could you please point that somewhere else?"

Mal shrugged nonchalantly. "I thought the light brought out the little spark in your eyes."

The intercom whined overhead and Wash's voice was heard.

"_Now Cap'n, remember, she's my wife_," he reminded jokingly.

"Yeah, yeah, all you can keep talkin'," Jayne said, clearly annoyed. "I'm just interested as to what this is out there."

"Hopefully something that could offer some sort of compensation to our lack of pay today," Mal said slightly optimistically.

Mal, Zoe, and Jayne were now fully dressed in their respective space suits and were standing in the middle of the cargo bay, preparing to exit the ship.

Mal walked over to the wall-mounted intercom and pressed the button. "Wash, we're leaving."

"_Sounds good. You take care of my wife now, ya hear_?"

Zoe rolled her eyes.

Mal turned to face his crew, motioning to the giant sliding door that sealed the airlock. "Let's go."

With that, Mal walked forward to the large slider doors and pushed a button mounted on the wall. Not a moment later, the warning alarms began to wail and the doors hissed in acknowledgement, sliding open to reveal the closed ramp that separated them from space. Motioning for his crew of three to follow, Mal stepped inside first, followed by Zoe and Jayne, each of them having slight difficulty finding a comfortable way of walking in the bulky space suits. Once all three of them were on the other side of the doors, Mal pushed another button, causing the alarm to go off again and the sliding doors close once again.

Once the doors were completely shut, the lights went out, thrusting the entire airlock into darkness, the only sources of light coming from the flashlights on their helmets before the red warning lights turned on automatically.

Mal then pressed a button on his helmet and spoke.

"Alright, Wash," he started, his voice slightly garbled by static. "We're ready to go."

"_Copy_," Wash's voice replied. "_You're free to open up. Good luck_."

Mal nodded in reply and walked over to the other wall where a lever was waiting for him. He gripped it and turned back to Zoe and Jayne.

"Ready?"

They nodded.

He nodded back in reply.

He pulled the lever.

A loud hissing was heard as all the air was sucked out into space. About five seconds later, the hissing stopped, confirming that no more air remained in the airlock, prompting the ramp to drop slowly, the 'verse welcoming them with its cold, dark arms.

Once the door was fully opened, the small team stood in place for a few moments longer, just gaping at the sight in front of them.

It was large, a few hundred feet in front of them, and damaged. _Severely_ damaged.

But one thing was unmistakable.

It was a ship. It was simple in design and not as large as Serenity. It was mainly white with a black tipped nose and a black stripe on each of its wings on both sides of the fuselage. On its rear were many large funnels that Mal could only guess was what gave it its thrust. On many parts of the ship were large patches of holes with wires floating outside of it, flopping around smoothly as if it were underwater. Large bits of the ship's debris were floating around it as if it had its own orbit.

"My God," Mal breathed.

"Are you sure it's a good idea to go in there, Sir?" Zoe questioned, her voice garbled by the static as well. "It looks like a deathtrap."

"It's no different than any other ship we've looted, now is it?" Mal pointed out.

"I'll tell ya what I think," Jayne said, coming up alongside Mal. "It's Reavers."

Mal nodded. "Oh it's most definitely Reavers," he confirmed. "But by the looks of it, there aren't any here," he guessed, surveying the wreckage up and down, but finding no sign of any strange ships.

Determining it was now safe, Mal motioned with his arm for them to follow.

"Come on, let's go."

With that, they jumped off of the ramp and allowed weightlessness to do its part.

They floated straight forward, on a direct course for the damaged ship, doing their best to maneuver around the floating bits of debris. Jayne, having less success than Mal and Zoe, kept muttering and swearing as he continuously bumped into more pieces, throwing him slightly off course.

"Jayne, get it together, would ya?" Mal snapped as he kept floating forward.

Once he determined he was getting close enough, Mal outstretched his arm, anticipating the impact with the ship. A moment later, he collided with the side of it with a soft thud, only dazed for a few seconds before getting his bearings back.

Soon, he saw Zoe make contact with the ship as well to his right. They nodded to each other as the sound of Jayne's incoherent screaming suddenly blasted out of their intercoms. To the left, they saw Jayne spiraling through space like a ragdoll after hitting a piece of debris that launched him into an uncontrollable spiral and land back-first alongside the ship.

"jiàn tā de guǐ!"

Jayne then righted himself and flipped himself around, nodding to Mal and Zoe to show he was cool.

They simply shook their heads in reply.

"Alright," Mal started, "look for an opening or a door of some sort."

"What about one of these gigantic holes?" Jayne suggested.

"No good," Mal replied. "It's too dangerous with all of those wires floatin' about in there. Our best bet is to find a more conventional way in. Spread out, yell if you find somethin'."

With that, the crew dispersed in separate directions. Mal stayed where he was, patting the side of the ship to find any weak points. Zoe slowly maneuvered over to the right side while Jayne did his best to crawl to the top.

After a few minutes of patting and searching fruitlessly, Zoe's voice over the communicator interrupted Mal's thoughts.

"Sir, I think I found something."

Mal stopped what he was doing and passed hand-over-hand alongside of the ship, making his way over to Zoe's side.

"Whatca got?"

Zoe didn't reply. Instead, she pointed in front of her. Mal followed where she was pointing and he found a small groove in the side of the ship that went up and created a rectangle around them, indicating that this was the entrance to the seemingly empty ship.

Mal nodded.

"Jayne?"

"Workin' on it!"

Craning their necks to the side, they saw the large, burly silhouette of Jayne crawling on all fours on top of the ship, slowly but surely making his way over to the two of them.

"Sometime this solar cycle would be greatly appreciated. You've got the tools."

He muttered something else undecipherable into his microphone.

Finally, he came up alongside the two of them, righting himself so he was now right side up. Reaching for his belt, he pulled out his crowbar that he had at the ready. Gripping it in both hands, he jammed it inside the groove with a loud grunt and carefully as to not push himself backwards and send him sprawling into space.

He wiggled it a few times before taking it out and jamming it inside once again. This time, there was rush of noiseless, white air that came out from the cracks of the door. Taking the crowbar out, he dug his fingers inside the crease and pulled. His vein popping out on his forehead, he successfully pulled the door open.

He let go of the door and let it slowly swing open, his eyes widening in surprise.

"Well that was a hell of a lot easier than I thought."

"That's what I was counting on," Mal elaborated. "By the looks of it, she really took a beating," he said, gesturing to the inside. "Makes it easier than most looting trips."

He turned back to Serenity. "Wash, you keep an eye out for us now. We're goin' in."

Inside Serenity's cockpit, Wash was sitting in his usual spot in the pilot's seat, flipping a few switches and looking out the front window.

"Will do. Good luck. And be careful for God's sakes."

"_Wash, I'm insulted_," Mal's voice joked over the speaker. "_I'm in charge of this operation_."

"That's what I'm afraid of," Wash joked back. "Just come back in one piece and we'll see you soon."

He flipped a few more switches and swiveled around in his chair to see Book, Simon and Kaylee behind him.

"Come to see the show?" Wash asked, gesturing behind him.

"Well there ain't much else to do," Kaylee said with a shrug, sitting in the copilot's seat and spinning around. "Might as well come and watch the fun unravel."

"I must admit," Book spoke up, "the Captain's methods for dealing with not being paid are quite . . . unconventional."

"Welp, that's our Cap'n." Wash said happily. "Goin' off on space adventures . . . fighting the bad guys . . . steal from the rich, give to the crew."

"I thought it was give to the poor," Kaylee corrected.

"Lucky for us, we're both," Simon said as he leaned against the control panel, careful as to not knock off Wash's collection of dinosaurs.

"Do you think we'll be able to go with the Cap'n on one of his trips soon?" Kaylee asked almost hopefully only to earn a dismissive wave of the hand from Wash.

"Ah, they're not all that great. One is already more than enough for me."

"If I do recall, the last time you went out with Mal on the field resulted in your capture by Niska," Book reminded him.

The mention of Mal's rescue from Niska made Kaylee's heart rate rise dramatically as she was instantly reminded of River's flawless accuracy while taking out three men in almost a full second. She had to almost physically hold her tongue to prevent her from spilling that piece of info in front of the crew.

Especially Simon.

Back on the trashed ship, Mal, Zoe and Jayne, after having successfully opened the door made their way inside. On the left hand side was an opened door that lead to a partially empty room, and beyond that appeared to be the cockpit. To the right was another door, except sealed shut.

Mal motioned to the left. "Let's take this way first."

The three of them floated to the left and entered the larger room one by one.

In the center of the room was a floor mounted table with four mounted chairs on each side. Above the table, a chess board hovered lifelessly, rotating at will. Scattered all about the room and floating at random intervals were the black and white chess pieces. Along the walls of both sides of the room were multiple crates, both sealed and open.

Three simultaneous grins spread across their features.

"Jackpot," Mal said, clearly satisfied.

Not needing to be ordered to do so, Jayne came up from behind Mal with his crowbar clutched in both hands and made his way to the nearest sealed crate while Zoe and Mal waded their way to an open one.

All that was in there was the packing hay with a few crease marks that indicated that whatever was once in there had since been taken. They moved to the next one.

Nothing.

"Got this crate open," Jayne informed. "Just a buncha power tools and junk. Nothin' Kaylee doesn't already have I'd guess."

"Seems like the Reavers took all the good stuff, Sir," Zoe said sadly.

"But why would they only open half the crates and not all of them?" Mal asked curiously, looking at the remaining crates in the room.

"'Cuz they're stupid creatures. Nothin, more to it," Jayne suggested. "Lemme open a few more, see if there's anything else worth takin'."

Jayne did just that. He went around the room and opened all the others. They found nothing except for more power tools and a single crate filled with dried up fruit, unsuitable for eating.

Jayne beat the wooden box with his crowbar in frustration, growling and grunting for good measure.

"Are you telling me we did all this ruttin' work fer nothin'?!"

"Maybe not for nothin'," Mal corrected, pointing down the hall and at the sealed door they passed by.

Zoe looked skeptically at the door. "I don't know, Sir," she said. "If the Reavers left that door closed, maybe, just maybe it was for a reason."

"This is twice now in seven months that Badger hasn't given us what he's promised. I'm not leaving empty handed, Zoe," he said sternly.

Knowing full well to not question any further, Zoe went along with it.

They made their way back to the entrance and went through the door, coming up in front of the sealed one. The door had a metal wheel on the front of it that locked it into place. Mal gripped the wheel and gave it a hard turn, but it wouldn't budge. After a few more moments, he gave up, letting out a tired breath and turning to Jayne, holding his hand out.

Understanding what he wants, Jayne reached for his belt and pulled out his trusty crowbar and handed it to Mal. Mal took it and jammed it inside the wheel and in between the metal bars. Jamming the end of it to the side, he pulled on the crowbar with all his might, using the opposing force to his advantage as he pulled against it. The wheel finally gave into his weight and it turned a few inches in the opposite direction.

After a few more tweaks in the opposite direction, the door finally opened.

The first thing that came from the now slightly ajar door was an ominous green glow that cut through the thick darkness.

After exchanging glances between his crew, Mal opened the door all the way.

The room inside was about the same size as the room they were just in a few moments ago, but this one had more items strewn across the walls and floor.

Floating in the air were various blunt and odd objects. They were rectangular in shape but each varied in size. On the floor were four very large capsules, each of them big enough to hold a fully grown man. They were each lying on their backs with the glass front cracked and damaged. They were all dark on the inside.

Then they found another.

It was standing right up and was the source of the green glow. The glass front completely intact, the green light shined brightly from the inside.

Jayne was the first to walk in. He stepped forward and observed the smaller floating rectangle. The side facing him was blank and black. He lifted his hand and tapped it, sending it into a slow spiral. On its back side, it was silver with a logo that represented an apple with a small bite taken out of it.

"What the ruttin' hell?"

Looking down, there was a bigger rectangular object at his shins, also with an apple with a bite on its side was on it. He squinted in confusion and disinterest and kicked it away.

Mal and Zoe then entered the room, walking past Jayne and looking over the tipped over capsules, eliciting a small, surprised gasp from Zoe. Mal just looked down on it, his face devoid of emotion.

Unlike the one capsule standing on the wall, this capsule was dark inside, but they were still able to look inside clearly. But they almost wished they weren't able to.

Inside was a shriveled face of a poorly preserved corpse.

Zoe was forced to draw back and avert her eyes. She always prided herself on having a strong will, but even a woman like her had her limits.

But Mal remained unfazed. He continued to look at the other capsules with his interest peaked. All of them had the same thing in them.

He was surprised he didn't notice it at first.

All of them were occupied with rotting corpses.

Taking in a quick breath inside his helmet, he then brought his attention to the one capsule standing against the wall. Across the center of it was a control panel with a keypad and a blinking green light.

Then he took another, closer look.

Inside the capsule, inside the green glow, was a silhouette of a person.

Mal drew in another quick breath.

"This one's alive."


	4. Deja Vu

The hallways echoed with the seemingly never ending pitter patter of excited feet rushing through the ship's catwalks and making their way down to the cargo hold. In the lead was Kaylee, an exuberant and anxious smile on her face that refused to leave at the thought of the Captain finding more valuables for the crew.

Behind her was River, a smile on her face as well as she followed her friend. Simon trailed behind them with Inara, Wash and Book.

"So what was it the Captain said he found?" Book asked curiously to Wash, who only shrugged in reply.

"He didn't say. No one did," Wash admitted. "The coms went dark after a little bit while they were out there. But I saw them floating back to the ship with a mighty fine . . . uh, thing."

Simon's eyes went wide, his interest having peaked. "A thing," he repeated in a sarcastic drone. "That will surely make up for our severe lack of money."

"You never know, son," Book said calmly, his hands folded behind his back as he kept pace with the pilot and Inara. "It could be worth more than a shiny penny."

"More than a penny I would hope," Inara added quickly.

"Oh, I wouldn't worry," Kaylee said optimistically. "The Cap'n wouldn't have brought anything back if he didn't think it could help us."

With another giggle of excitement, River grabbed Kaylee's hand and pulled the mechanic with her down the hallway and away from the oncoming adults.

"Maybe she's right," Wash said. "Maybe Mal thought it was something we couldn't live without and he thought he should share it with us . . . what a nice guy."

The rest of the trip down to the cargo hold was held in silence. They reached the end of the hallway and stepped on the catwalk overlooking the large space. Down below them, Kaylee and River were waiting expectedly a few yards away from the large doors.

Walking along the metal path, Wash, Inara, Book and Simon made their way down the stairs and came up alongside the two young girls.

There, the crew waited for a few more minutes, waiting to hear the voices of either Mal, Zoe or Jayne. Preferably Mal's or Zoe's.

When nothing came to Wash's headpiece, he began to grow paranoid for his wife.

Before he could voice his concern, static came over his headpiece.

"'_Kay Wash_," Mal started. "_We're comin' in_."

Moments later, they could hear the sound of ramp lowering on the other side of the large doors. Kaylee and River's grins were almost immovable. "I hope he picked up a new compression coil!" Kaylee couldn't help but spurt out. "Serenity's takeoffs have gotten awful bumpy for a few weeks."

After another few moments, they could hear the ramp beginning to close back up, letting the crew know that they had all returned.

With Kaylee's and River's hands clasped over their chests excitedly and the rest of the adults arms crossed nonchalantly, the alarm began to wail and the doors began to slide open, revealing Mal, Zoe and Jayne standing in their space suits and alongside Mal was . . .

"Hm," Simon said, legitimately interested as he scratched his chin. "You were right," he said to Wash. "It is a thing."

Without another word, Mal and Zoe stepped into the cargo hold, leaving Jayne to tip over the large canister and have the top of it fall into his arms. He grunted in protest and began dragging it backwards. "I always hated this part," he grumbled. "They're so much lighter outside."

"That's kinda because it was in space, Jayne. That's the point." Mal pointed out.

With another grunt, Jayne continued dragging the large capsule along the floor, the metal upon metal sending an aggravating grinding noise throughout the room, forcing the entire crew to cover their ears. Once Jayne was fully inside the cargo hold, he gently lowered his end to the floor, rubbing his gloved hands together to numb the pain that came from the large metal tube.

Once they were certain they could uncover their ears, River and Kaylee's faces immediately lit back up at the sight.

"Shiny," Kaylee complimented. "Whatcha got inside their, Cap'n?"

"So," Inara said skeptically, "this . . . thing was worth your time, was it?"

Mal, now in the center of the room, rotated his helmet off of his space suit and positioned it under his arm. "Don't be so quick to judge, Inara," he said. "If I brought it back, then it must be important." After that, he motioned to Jayne. Nodding in understanding, he took out his crowbar once again and jammed it into the door of the capsule, careful as to not damage the glass or the content.

Kaylee approached with her hands clasped excitedly. But before she could ask what was inside again, Jayne successfully pried the door open. With a loud hiss, a plume of white slithered out and crawled across the floor, engulfing Jayne's ankles in a cold fog.

Simon let go of his chin and let his arms fall to his sides, his mouth agape in momentary disbelief as he finally recognized what the object was.

"Mal . . . Is that a-"

Before he could finish the question, Jayne flung the door open, allowing the rest of the fog to fly about.

River, her face blank with a hint of awe, stepped cautiously forward until the fog covered her beneath her waist. Once she was close enough, she leaned forward and observed the contents of the capsule.

"River? Honey what is . . ." Book trailed off.

The fog was finally beginning to dissipate, revealing what was inside.

"Whoa," Wash breathed. "Déjà vu." He suddenly became aware of the presence of his wife behind him, her helmet off and her hand on his shoulder, looking deep, almost apologetically into his eyes.

A collective gasp made its way across the unsuspecting crew as the fog finally vanished, revealing the boy inside.

He was young looking, at least in his early twenties, he had bright red hair and was dressed simply in a white tank top and black shorts.

"Oh yeah," Mal spoke up, "I kinda forgot to mention somethin', it's a person."

A long, very uncomfortable silence fell upon the crew as they all looked upon the young man currently dead to the entire world.

" . . . Wow," was all Book had to say, looking down at the man. "This was, well, unexpected."

"My God," Simon breathed. "Captain, you brought an occupied cryogenic freezer onboard?"

"I told him not to," Jayne suddenly said, pulling off his helmet. "'Cuz the last time we brought in a frozen person, she turned out to be a ruttin' crazy psychopath who runs around reading minds and such."

Simon shot him an unappreciative sideways glance.

"Well maybe this time it'll be different," Wash said optimistically. "Maybe this one is a time traveler from a faraway kingdom will pay us in candy."

Everyone ignored the pilot.

"Um, Mal," Inara started apprehensively, "not that I'm impressed by the fact that you went out of your way to save an unconscious . . . wait, he is . . . alive, right?"

"Inara," Mal started, only slightly offended, "I would never bring a dead man on board. Look at that chest steadily risin' and fallin'. I'd say that that's the most healthy dead man I've ever seen."

"What I'm saying is," Inara continued, "why _did_ you bring him aboard?"

"Well, there doesn't have to be a reason, does there?" Kaylee asked. "The Cap'n simply saw a man in need and he helped him, just like any good captain would."

With a wide smile, she threw her arms around Mal's shoulders and gave him a peck on the cheek.

The now uncomfortable captain cleared his throat. "Um, it was nothin', really. I just, um, saw a man in need and . . . saved him. 'Cuz every man deserves a, uh, fair life filled with . . ." he trailed off, running out of things to say under the skeptical glares from the rest of the crew besides River, who was still observing the sleeping man.

Mal finally sighed. "Fine," he admitted, shooing away his mechanic. "I saw him and thought I could sell him for a good amount of cash, ya happy?"

The skeptical glares were instantly replaced with ones of surprise and outrage.

"_What_?!" They all cried out at the same time.

Wash rubbed his forehead exasperatedly. "Wuh duh ma huh tah duh fong kwong duh wai shung."

"Hey!" Mal shouted. "Need I remind you that we are considerably low on cash at the moment? I'm sure that there's elderly folk out there in need of a strong young man's help such as this one, for a good price that is."

"Um," Wash tapped his chin, "isn't that called slavery? I'm pretty sure that was outlawed a few hundred years ago."

"For the love of God, Mal!" Inara started again. "It's a human being! People aren't cargo. I'm surprised at you."

"I don't need a lecture from you, Inara. Next thing you know, the Shepard's going to give me a talking to about some bible story."

"Actually, this certain scenario greatly reflects Joseph and his brothers. Jealous of the attention he was getting from their father, Joseph's brothers sold him to a-"

"Yeah, sorry, you lost me," Mal waved him off. "Listen, I know this isn't like me," he started, "but we're in a position right now that doesn't involve being picky about what we do or how we do it. I don't need your attitude, I need you to do your jobs so we can keep flyin'. So Doc," he said, motioning to Simon, "I need you to take this new specimen back to your office and get him into tip top shape to go out on his own."

"Tip top shape? Mal, he's in comatose right now. He's not sick, he's just sleeping. I can't force him to wake up, the shock would be way too much for him. It's identical as to what I did with River. I can't just-"

"He's dreaming."

River's soft voice suddenly interrupted as she guided all eyes to her. Her body was at a near perfect ninety degree angle as she looked over the young man, her face hovering over his, her long hair barely brushing over his nose.

"He's dreaming about his friends. His family. He wants to go back to them. But he can't. He's been sleeping for too long."

Mal waited until he was sure River was finished. "Right, okay Doc. Can you at least take care of our new guest?"

Simon nodded.

"Right. Jayne, help the doctor get him into the infirmary."

_Later_,

Simon walked over to the counter, his gloved hands reaching into the drawers and taking out syringes and a small black vile. Filling one syringe with the blue liquid, he turned around and made his way to the young man, who was now resting almost lifelessly atop the operating table. On the other side of the room, Kaylee sat in a chair, watching the doctor as he pushed the needle into the man's neck.

"This is to help him ease out of the coma," he elaborated. "It's dangerous to do it all at once. He'd . . . he'd probably panic and run around the ship and . . . well, you remember what happened with River."

The mechanic nodded.

Kaylee turned her head to the right to see the now vacant capsule that the young man was previously in now leaning against the wall in the corner, the green light on the inside now off.

"How long do you think he was sleepin' for?" Kaylee wondered out loud.

"It's impossible to tell at the moment," Simon admitted as he pulled the needle out. "That stasis pod looks ages old and . . . and . . ." he trailed off, turning back to the young woman with a curious glint in his eye.

"Do you think that this is right?"

"That what's right?"

"What the captain is doing?" He cleared up. "He's-he's deliberately taking advantage of this kid's life! And, well, honestly, I don't put it past the captain to do something like this," he admitted, "but it all just seems so sick."

"Well," Kaylee started, "since I've been on Serenity, the Cap'n has always made decisions that he thought was best for us. Sure this one seems a little . . ." she gazed at the unconscious man, "sick, but I'm sure everything will turn out fine."

"I hope you're right," Simon said solemnly.

He walked back over to the drawer and pulled out another vile and syringe. Filling it up, he walked back over to the table. "Alright, this one will reduce his heart rate so that when he-"

But before he could even finish his sentence, the eyes burst wide open, followed up quickly by a bloodcurdling scream.


	5. Unarmed and Presumed Crazy

"So did you mean it?"

"Huh?"

"Did you really mean it when you said you were gonna sell him?"

Mal turned to his pilot with an almost dead stare.

Mal, Wash and Zoe had each congregated back to the cockpit after the ordeal in the cargo hold, waiting to find some random planet to land on or to hopefully find another shipwreck to salvage from for the past fifteen minutes, which added to a grand total of fifteen minutes of time wasted.

Zoe took a deep breath and leaned against her husband's control panel, awaiting an answer as well, careful not to disturb his model dinosaurs.

Mal sighed and swiveled the copilot's chair so he was facing his two worried crewmates.

"Yes. And no."

"You're going to have to be more clear, sir," Zoe deadpanned.

"Look," Mal rose from the chair, "I don't have to tell you about the position we're in. Badger backed out on payment-"

"Again," Wash delightfully added.

"Right," Mal continued. "I truthfully don't wanna sell the kid. You know I don't. But the money could be put to good use. Kaylee's been just about chewing my arm off about a new compression coil for Serenity. Besides, I don't think we need another mouth to feed around here, do we?"

"Now, if I'm not mistaken, which I usually am, actually, but I believe I am not this time," Wash spoke up, "but is that not what you also said about Simon, River, and the Shepard?" He counted off the three of them with his fingers.

"They've each proven their worth . . . Well, the girl's got a ways bit to go before she can be considered one of the normal such as us, but I'm confident in the doc's guidance. Plus, once that boy wakes up, I'm sure young Simon will have that well under control too."

Static came over the speaker before Simon's panicked voice was heard.

"_You guys might want to come down here . . . now_."

Mal smothered his face in his hands and let out a deep, somewhat calming breath.

"Of course my faith in him has been tested before."

Without another word, Mal and Zoe sprinted out of the cockpit and down the hall, leaving Wash alone to pilot the ship. The two of them made their way down the flights of steps until they entered the medical room where a shocked Simon and Kaylee resided, as well as a vacant operating table where Mal was almost positive was an unconscious young man not a half hour ago.

Simon looked to the captain and Zoe with a dropped jaw.

"You wanna start explainin' just about what the gorram hell happened in here?"

"I have no idea!" Simon admitted. "I gave him a few sedatives so that I could ease him out of comatose, but he suddenly went berserk and attacked me!" He gestured behind him to the spilled liquid and broken glass on the floor.

"Is it just me, or is the doc getting more and more bad luck when it comes to some sleepin' yutz on his own medical table?" Jayne's voice suddenly made him heard. He was now leaning against the doorway, dressed in an orange shirt and his yellow and orange winter cap. He entered the room.

"So where did he go?!" Mal demanded.

Kaylee pointed out the door. "Out there."

"And you didn't go after him?" Zoe wondered out loud.

"He caught us off guard. He hurt Simon!" Kaylee defended, pointing to Simon's arm. It was only then that Mal saw the large chunk of glass sticking out of his left forearm, blood dripping from the wound and mixing itself in the spilled liquid on the floor.

"Either way, there's no way the sedative I gave him would have brought him out of comatose so abruptly and violently," Simon elaborated, turning behind him and digging through the drawer and picking out a few viles and syringes, holding them in front of his face, studying them. "I've never seen such a reaction to-" He cut himself off, his once inquisitive face instantly turning into one of horror.

"What?" Kaylee asked.

Simon remained silent for a few moments more before his found his voice again.

"This isn't a sedative."

"Well what is it?" Zoe asked.

". . . It's adrenaline."

"So let me get this straight," Mal said impatiently, rubbing the bridge of his nose in annoyance. "There is an absolute stranger hopped up on crazy running around in my ship because you mixed up the ruttin' medicine?!"

"I-I didn't! I set my relaxants in this drawer so they're easily accessible. Someone must've came in and rearranged . . ." He trailed off, a look of sudden realization crossing over his face as his eyes drifted to the entrance of the room.

Mal, Zoe, Jayne and Kaylee followed his gaze and found River poking her head in from the side, her forehead and eyes the only thing visible as well as her dangling mess of hair.

She straightened out and stepped one bare foot inside, then the other.

"It didn't make any sense," she said with her usual 'far off' tone.

"What?" Simon asked agitatedly. "What didn't make any sense?"

"How you had it arranged," she cleared up. "If you're losing a patient, you need to keep them active. You need to have your adrenaline closer. It makes more sense."

Simon let out a calming breath, not making any more eye contact with his sister.

Mal turned away from the scene and addressed the rest of his crew. "Alright people, we've got someone aboard this ship who's unarmed and presumed crazy. Split up and find him. Kaylee, you stay and help the doc."

With that, Mal, Zoe and Jayne ran out of the room, leaving a still bleeding Simon alone with Kaylee and his sister.

"Are you mad?" River asked innocently.

In reply, Simon let out another breath. "We'll talk about that later. For now, just . . . stay outside. Kaylee, help me clean this up, would you?"

_Meanwhile_,

Book took a deep breath as he exited his bunk, tilting his head as to not bang it against the top. He had a small stack of boxes in his hands that he had promised the captain he would bring up to the kitchen.

He entered the hall and took another breath, recollecting what had happened just a few minutes ago in the cargo hold.

_Surely the Captain wouldn't just sell that young man, would he? _

_While I guess I wouldn't be shocked if he did, but he's a man of honor. There must be something else he has in mind._

Before he could feed his nagging thoughts any more, he was hit hard in the chest by a blunt force that sent him and his boxes of canned goods to the floor. Disoriented but unharmed, Book rubbed his head and brought himself to his knees, trying to find what caused the collision.

What he found almost took his breath away again.

He found a young man on his knees as well with a head of messy red hair, a white tank top and black shorts. The young man from the cryogenic tube in the cargo hold.

Book did a double take to make sure he was seeing it correctly. The young man groaned and held his head in his palm.

Book slowly reached out to him.

"Excuse me, son. Are you-"

Before he could finish his question, he was interrupted by a loud, genuinely horrified cry from him. Wasting no time, he clambered back to his feet, jumped over the hunched down Shepard and climbed up the ladder that lead to the catwalk right over their heads.

Book was left speechless as he watched him disappear onto the next level. He jumped slightly at the sound of Inara's concerned cry coming from behind.

"Shepard! What happened?"

She came up to his side and slid her arm under his, helping him rise to his feet. He dizzily stood on his own. "The . . . The young man. The one from before, who Mal and the others brought onboard. He's awake . . . And quite confused as it seems."

_Later_,

Run.

Run fast.

Run faster!

That was all that was going through his brain at the moment.

Well, there was that, as well as, '_where am I_?', and, '_who are all these people_?', and of course, '_how did I get here?"_

But with his heart racing a mile a minute and his muscles seemingly reacting on their own, he had no time to dwell on any of those questions.

He simply had to go.

He had to run.

He had no idea where to. He didn't even know where he was. He just has to.

After jumping over the old man, he found himself in what looked like a kitchen with decor and appliances that looked like it came straight from the 1970's. After that, he exited and found himself inside a hallway. As he ran, he didn't even see the trap door beneath his feet.

_At the same time_,

"_Tian Di Wu Yowng _Doctor," Mal grumbled to himself as he climbed up a small flight of stairs. He only paused once he heard the noise of more footsteps other than his own approaching from behind.

Hoping to find the escapee, he only found a worried Inara trailing up behind him.

Letting out a disappointed breath, Mal fully faced Inara.

"I don't have time for another lecture, Inara. We've got a-"

"So I've heard," she cut him off. "I ran into Shepard. He tells me we've got a man on the run inside Serenity."

"It wasn't my fault!" He defended. "The Doc-"

"It was your idea to bring him onboard! It was you who thought he could handle all of this if it got out of control! And guess what? It did! Now he could be anywhere in this ship!"

Before Mal could argue any further, the two of them looked behind to find a white blur tumble and fall down the stairs on the catwalk system right across from them. The young man finally came to a stop at the bottom, his form writhing in pain and moaning.

Mal turned back to Inara.

"Or he could be, ya know, right there."

The young man looked up, all traces of pain suddenly disappearing at the sound of a new voice. He saw Mal and Inara walking cautiously in his direction.

Panic seizing his heart, he shot back up to his feet and ran in the opposite direction.

Mal let out a disgruntled breath. "Would you slow down, gorrammit!? We ain't gonna hurt you!"

The two of them chased the young man through the system of catwalks until they entered the cargo hold. The raging and panicked young man all but jumped over the steps and landed to a running start on the catwalks below, looking down at the large, open space below him, not even noticing the two people behind him climb down the stairs and run after him once more.

"Hey!" Mal shouted.

Against his expectations, that got the young man's attention. He turned to face him and raised a shaking hand in front of him, not wishing Mal or Inara to come any closer.

Mal instantly slowed himself down to a walk, prompting Inara to do the same. Mal held his arms up at his sides to show that he had no intention of harming him, but he either didn't believe him, or was so panicked that he couldn't process the gesture.

"Just . . . Just take it easy now," Mal cooed gently, arms still out in front of him. "Her and I," he said, gesturing to Inara behind him, "we ain't gonna hurt you," he repeated.

Mal's reassuring tone fell upon deaf ears as the young man shook his head spastically. Turning on his heel, he was about to dart in the opposite direction, but froze in place at the sight of a large, burly man with a black goatee and yellow and orange winter cap blocking his way.

He was trapped.

"P-Please," he pleaded, holding his hands up in both directions as Mal, Inara and Jayne slowly began inching their way to him. "D-Don't touch me."

"We ain't here to hurt you," Mal said again. "Just calm yourself. Take a deep breath, and- don't touch that!"

As Mal tried to make another attempt at calming him, the panicked man swung his arm around, not noticing the control panel that was resting on the railing.

His arm swiped the lever and it fell down.

Up above them cam a loud _click_. The four of them looked over the cargo hold in time to see the Mule detach from the hoist and plummet to the floor with a massive _CRASH_!

The loud noise echoed in the large space for what felt like forever, everyone's ears ringing in protest.

Mal opened his eyes that he didn't even know he closed to see that everyone, including him, had their hands covered over their ears. Jayne and the man removed their hands and looked down, a shocked expression dawning on Jayne's face as he looked, causing Mal's heart to plummet.

_Don't look._

_Gorrammit Mal, don't look._

He peeked over the railing.

His heart fell further.

The Mule is a crumpled mess, the metal was twisted and contorted in awkward angles and multiple metal shards lay on the floor.

The young man, still looking over the edge, didn't even notice as Jayne snuck up behind him and wrapped his large arms under his arms and get him into a full nelson. His eyes went wide with horror, his hands wrapping around the larger man's arms in a futile attempt to loosen his grip. Jayne's arms had veins visibly bulging out, Mal could almost see the life leaving his eyes.

Mal ran forward. "Jayne! Let 'em go!"

Jayne looked at him confusedly. "Why? You saw what he did! This ruttin' bastard jist destroyed the-"

"Jayne!" Mal Barked. "Let. Him. Go."

Jayne rolled his eyes before looking down at the horrified face in his arms. "Whatever."

He let go. The young man fell to his hands and knees, coughing and grasping his throat.

Mal glared at his employee. "The hell is the matter with you?"

Jayne shrugged. "S'the only thing I could think of."

Mal shook his head before kneeling down to face level with the panting kid. He placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Okay, _now_ we ain't gonna hurt you. Just . . . Just breathe. Yeah, like that. Keep doing that."

Once he caught his breath, he looked up and looked Mal in the eyes. Mal could see the red lines in his eyes as well as the tears beginning to tear up.

"Please," he panted. "Where . . . Where am I?"

_Later_,

After the commotion, everyone relocated back to the infirmary, standing outside and looking in through the windows. Only Simon and the new man were inside, everyone else waiting anxiously outside. Mal peered inside and could see both their mouths moving rapidly but unable to make out what they're saying. The man sat on the table while Simon stood in front of him, his chin resting on his fist.

River stayed in the corner, sitting on the couch and staring guiltily at her feet.

Mal stood impatiently at the door with Wash, Zoe, Jayne, Kaylee, Book and Inara waiting alongside him in rapt silence.

The doors slid open.

Simon stepped out, his chest rising slowly in a long breath. The doors closed behind him.

"I, uh, don't know how to say this."

"What is it, doc?" Mal asked, growing more impatient.

"Um, where do I start?"

"How about a name?" Kaylee suggested.

"His name's Caleb. Caleb Van Houten."

"Where's he from?" Book questioned.

"See, that's the thing. I-It's not where, it's _when_. Wash, you weren't too far off. He's a time traveler. He's been frozen solid for five hundred years."

A/N: Holy long walk for a short drink of water, Batman! I usually don't wait over a month to update a story, especially when the chapter isn't that long, but life has taken over. Juggling three separate things during the week can be time consuming as it turns out. Plus, with all of these events, I had lost interest in this story for a short time. But don't lose faith! I haven't given up on this thing just yet. But I really need some help here guys. If there's still people out there who still want me to continue this crazy little brain baby of mine, leave a review. Even if you don't review that often, it'll really help. I don't usually leave author's notes, but I felt this time deserved a little more of an explanation.


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